Johnson & Johnson’s newly authorized Covid-19 vaccine started shipping and the company’s top executive said on March 1 that Americans should be able to receive the single-dose shot within 24 to 48 hours, adding a third vaccine in the United States.
The world’s largest syringe maker does not have the capacity to substantially increase U.S. supplies of specialty syringes needed to squeeze more doses from Pfizer Inc. Covid-19 vaccine vials in the coming weeks, an executive said in an interview.
The first injections of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine started to be administered on Dec. 21 after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) on Dec. 18.
U.S. distribution of Moderna Inc’s Covid-19 vaccine began on Dec. 19, with more than 3,700 sites due to start receiving and administering shots as soon as Dec. 21, vastly widening the rollout started by Pfizer Inc.
If all things go well, the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine will receive EUA from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration around December 10 or within a few days after, and the Moderna vaccine will receive EUA around December 17 or within a few days after.
McKesson Corp. said the company and two other major U.S. drug distributors could be expected to pay up to $21 billion under a new proposal by state attorneys general to resolve lawsuits alleging they helped fuel the U.S. opioid crisis.
Johnson & Johnson will contribute up to $1 billion more to a potential settlement of lawsuits alleging the New Brunswick, New Jersey-based drugmaker and other companies fueled the U.S. opioid epidemic, bringing J&J’s total payment to $5 billion.
A federal appeals court overturned a judge’s approval of a novel plan by lawyers representing cities and counties suing drug companies over the U.S. opioid crisis that would bring every community nationally into their settlement talks.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) asked state public health officials to prepare to distribute a potential coronavirus vaccine to high-risk groups as soon as late October, documents published by the agency showed.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said McKesson Corp. will be the central distributor for future coronavirus vaccines, sending the U.S. drug distributor’s shares up more than 3%.